Old Foes, New Beginnings
by iridetomriddleallnight
Summary: *Set in 8th year* Harry and friends are returning to hogwarts to finish their last year. But things arent always as they seem and harry finds himself falling for a certain slytherin. M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note  
**Ok, this is a Harry/Draco pairing. If that kind of thing offends you then this probably is not the story for you.  
I have not written any stories in years so please be patient and kind with me as I write this.  
No hate mail please! I am not J.K. Rowling. I know my writing has faults so I'm welcome to any thoughts, ideas, concerns, or suggestions but please no rudeness.  
**Disclaimer: **I own nothing! It all belongs to the queen of writing herself J.K. Rowling.

* * *

** Old Foes, New Beginnings**

I'm movin' on  
At last I can see life has been patiently waiting for me  
And I know there's no guarantees, but I'm not alone  
There comes a time in everyone's life  
When all you can see are the years passing by  
And I have made up my mind that those days are gone

I'm moving on by Rascal Flatts_  
_

* * *

-  
"Harry! Hurry up or we will be late!" Hermione ushered as she shoved them both on the train.  
"Geez Hermione careful on the jumper! Mum just bought this." Ron whined as Hermione gave a rather blunt pull on his arm.  
"Yeah we still have 10 minutes before the train leaves you know" Harry patiently informed her.  
"Better safe then sorry" Hermione replied in a sing-song voice.

The gang found an empty compartment near the end of the train and made themselves comfortable. As the train began to take off Hermione and Ron started to talk amidst themselves, leaving Harry to his thoughts. In all honesty Harry was not as thrilled to be attending another year as his friends were. He loved Hogwarts and part of him would always consider Hogwarts his home. It had served as a escape for him when he had none. However, given everything that has happened, he did not believe it really…necessary. He had just defeated one of the darkest wizards in history, what more did everyone want from him?

"Harry did you hear me?"  
Harry jerked out of his reverie by Ron, who was staring at him worriedly.  
"Are you ok mate?"  
"Yeah. Fine. Just tired is all." Harry lied. It was pointless to try and talk to Ron or Hermione about how he felt. It always ended with him being sympathized or told off. Neither was what he really felt like hearing everyday.  
"Oh…ok. If you're sure. So do you think there will be quidditch this year?" Ron asked, excitement shining in his eyes again.  
"I dunno…I hadn't thought about it. I hope so." He pondered.

He really did wish there would be. Quidditch was always a welcome distraction, and he was going to need a lot of that to get through this year. Hermione, who had been silently listening to the whole ordeal, just 'tsk'd' and muttered something along the lines of 'boys' under her breath. She went back to reading her book, but kept stealing glances at Harry.  
After about 30 minutes of silence, they all got up to start changing into their robes. One thing they all could agree on, was how weird it felt to be in Hogwarts uniform again.

"You know, I heard that they were thinking about letting 8th years wear whatever they wanted this year." Ron informed as they sat back down.  
"Why didn't they?" Harry inquired curiously.  
"I dunno…probably just thought it would draw more attention." Ron guessed.  
"Well I'm glad they decided not to. I actually missed the feel of these robes!" Hermione cried out indignantly. Ron rolled his eyes.  
"Oh c'mon Hermione, don't be so uptight! Let your hair down now and again yeah?"  
Hermione's face turned red and she slapped Ron repeatedly over the head with her book  
"YOU….COMPLETE…..ARSE….RONALD…WEASLEY" She yelled in between smacks.

Harry smiled to himself. He had definitely missed their bickering. It had only just occurred to him that this would be the first time he would attend Hogwarts without a shadow of death hanging over his shoulders. Maybe this year he would finally have a chance at a normal life. He could joke and laugh with his friends and teachers with no worries. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Ron how about a quick game of chess before the train arrives?" Harry challenged him after he recovered from his beating. Ron grinned.  
"Your on mate!"  
Hermione rolled her eyes and continued reading her book.

As the train rolled into Hogsmeade, the game ended on 2 stalemates. Ron insisted he could have beat Harry if he really wanted to, whilst Harry swore that the moving and noise from the train clouded his focus. The 3 of them happily jumped off the train.  
Harry could see Hagrid in the distance, directing the first years to the boats as usual. It almost hurt from missing it so much. He vowed to visit Hagrid first chance he got.

"Harry!" a voice behind them screamed. As Harry turned he was pulled into a spine cracking hug from a beaming Neville. Luna, and Ginny were also with him. Luna looking just as dreamy as always and Ginny looking in pretty high spirits. They all hugged and laughed as they began catching up with each other while walking to the threstral drawn carriages.  
"How ya been Harry?" Neville asked excitedly. It was still hard to believe that this was the same Neville Harry met first year. He had grown so much. Harry couldn't help but think how proud his parents would be if they were still in their right minds.  
"Great Neville thanks. How about you?" Harry smiled weakly. He was exhausted. He didn't get any sleep the night before because he was too busy being persuaded by the weasleys to even come.  
"Never better! Ah…I'm looking forward to this year. I can't believe we were given a chance to come back!" Neville exclaimed.  
"Hmm…I wonder who else decided to repeat their last year" Hermione wondered aloud to the everyone.  
"Well I know Seamus, Dean, Lee, and Padma returned…someone else returned but your not going to like who." Ginny informed them quietly  
"Who?" Ron asked excitedly, seeming to relish in the gossip.  
"Draco Malfoy"  
Everyone was silent.  
"I've been looking forward to the feast. Haven't you?" Luna murmured softly to the rest of them. At that exact moment, Ron's stomach growled in agreement.

* * *

Ok well there it is! The first chapter. I'm sorry it's so short. I'm gonna try to make longer chapters in the future. This just seemed like a good place to end it. Review and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note  
**Ok, this is a Harry/Draco pairing. If that kind of thing offends you then this probably is not the story for you.  
I have not written any stories in years so please be patient and kind with me as I write this.  
No hate mail please! I am not J.K. Rowling. I know my writing has faults so I'm welcome to any thoughts, ideas, concerns, or suggestions but please no rudeness.  
**Disclaimer: **I own nothing! It all belongs to the queen of writing herself J.K. Rowling.

As Harry entered the Great Hall, he was overcome with a wave of emotions. He looked towards where Mcgonagall was standing. It was that very spot where Dumbledore once stood in all his glory. At the staff table, he looked desperately hoping to see Snape's piercing gaze only to be let down further when he remembered that Snape too, did not survive the war. With a sigh of relief he saw that all of his old teachers were still there. Flitwick was sitting next to professor Vector. Slughorn was talking enthusiastically to a women he had not seen before. Her hair was a dark blonde and wrapped in a messy bun. She had soft but strong looking facial features and reminded Harry of a fox. She was wearing teal colored robes.

"Harry we're blocking the entrance" Ron muttered under his breath, pulling Harry over to the Gryffindor table.

As Harry stumbled under Ron's tight grip to the Gryffindor table he looked around for more familiar faces. Every now and then he would see someone and they would wave at him and he would wave back, forcing a smile to his lips. He, Ron and Hermione finally sat down with Neville, Ginny and Seamus sitting around them.

Harry couldn't seem to get rid of the feeling of guilt that was slowly seeping through his body and freezing his heart. He knew it was not his fault but everytime he recognized that someone he knew was not sitting at those 4 tables he cursed himself even more. He looked around at his friends sitting with him. Seamus looked older and stronger now. 'The war had changed everyone' Harry thought. He looked at Ginny with a face of confusion. They had broken up over the summer. Harry's feelings towards her had dissipated and he couldn't understand why. She was just as beautiful as she had always been, still the same sweet girl who had said 'good luck' to him on Kings Cross station years ago. It ended on a good note. They promised each other they would remain best friends and be there for each other and Harry was thankful for that. Ginny still wanted one thing from him though, and he was willing to do all the soul searching possible until he got it for her…a reason why. He looked over at Ron and Hermione who were sitting directly across the table from him. He did not have to look under the table to know that they were holding hands. He was happy for them, really he was, but ever since they stared dating he felt…out of place.

"Aww look at all the first years" Ginny swooned. She was staring at them as if they were puppies. Harry almost felt the urge to laugh at her.

"Bloody hell! It's like they're getting smaller every year" Ron gaped.

"Oh shush! They are not. You were once just as small as they were" Hermione huffed, annoyed. Harry looked up and noticed a small string of first years being led up to the front of the great hall. 'They were indeed quite small…maybe this year Ron might not call them midgets so often' Harry thought humorously.

A stool stood at their destination with a tattered old hat sitting on top.

"Dang…that hat has definitely seen better days eh" Seamus whispered to everyone.

"What do you expect mate? That hats been through a entire war." Ron replied grinning.

"Mathilda Crowley" Mcgonagall called out to the small group. A timid looking, dark haired girl rose out of the crowd and walked over to sit on the stool. As soon as the hat made contact with her head it yelled Slytherin. The girl jumped out of the seat and happily joined the Slytherin table.

"Adrian Caldwell"  
A light-blonde haired boy appeared and was sorted into Hufflepuff

"Miriam Bridgestead"  
Another dark-haired girl came up and was sorted in Ravenclaw.

"Roger Brighton"  
A dark-haired boy with big teeth came up and was sorted in Ravenclaw. 3 more kids came up after them. 2 of them were sorted in Gryffindor and the other one was sorted into Slytherin.

"That had to have been one of the shortest sortings I've ever sat through" Neville whispered, sounding incredibly bored.

"I heard a lot of parents didn't want their kids coming to Hogwarts this year" Seamus told them.

"Why not?" Harry asked even though he already had a pretty big idea.

"Because of the war." Seamus replied looking down.

"But the war is over! What's the big deal now?" Ron exclaimed heatedly.

"Ugh! Thing about it Ron! For years, centuries even, Hogwarts was deemed one of the safest places around besides Gringotts. First Gringotts gets broken into TWICE, then death itself comes literally knocking on Hogwarts doors declaring a war that left half of Hogwarts in ruins." Hermione blurted out in a rush. Ron, who had been sitting with his mouth gaped open, was about to make a retort when Mcgonagall began to make her speech.

"Be quiet!" She barked to the remaining students who were still talking amongst themselves.

" Now I have a few things that need to be said and then you can all tuck into dinner. First, some of you may notice that quite a few students who should have graduated, are still here. This is because these students could not attend their last year at Hogwarts for whatever reasons. We can excuse some exams but we cannot excuse a whole year of absence. These past few years have been a rough time for every single one of us, in one form or another. Now is the time I think best to work on house unity…"  
At the mention of this some students groaned audibly causing Mcgonagall to scowl at them.  
"Now shut up! All of you!" She screamed shrilly. The room went deafly quiet.  
"It's because of those stupid childish beliefs that so many innocent people lost their lives. By continuing these beliefs we are disgracing everyone who lost their lives for this cause. It's time to let bigons be bigons, as they say, and move on towards a new and better beginning. Our blood and where we came from is not of importance. What is important is who we choose to be, what we choose to be, and how we choose to be it. Therefore, throughout this second year you will find yourselves working closely with classmates from other houses. This has been agreed with by all staff in every class. With that being said, tuck in"  
Suddenly the tables filled with all assortments of food and the sounds of forks and spoons were ravenous. Mcgonagall herself sat down and began filling her plate.

"Well it's about time they really started pushing for some house unity again." Hermione chirped, sounding pleased with the speech.

"I'm telling you, It's never going to happen." Ron muttered incoherently while stuffing food in his open mouth.

"Well with an attitude like that of course not" Hermione snapped back at him. Her face told Harry alone that she was not very impressed with Ron's table manners.

"Come on Hermione, do you really see yourself becoming besties with blondie over there" Ron gargled as he jabbed a thumb in the direction of the Slytherin table.

Harry looked up and in the direction of Ron pointed and found himself staring directly at Malfoy. Even to the untrained eye he could tell something was wrong. Malfoy had bags under his eyes and his usually slicked back hair was untidy and in his face. 'looks softer' he thought. Harry stopped himself in his tracks. 'softer? Why the hell do I care about how soft his hair is or how he looks' he berated himself in his head. He looked down at his plate, silently cursing himself for looking in the first place. 'but my god does he have beautiful eyes' he begrudgingly agreed with his conscience.

"You all right Harry?" Hermione asked. Her voice dripping with worry and concern etched onto her face. Harry looked around and noticed that everyone was starting to get up.

He smiled "yeah mione just lost in thought. Is it time to go already?"

"Unfourtanetly. Get up, get a move on." Hermione teased. He could tell she wanted to question him more but decided against it, at least for now. He couldn't have been more grateful.

As they reached their dorms they said their goodnights and split ways. Harry and Ron entered the boys dorm to see the familiar faces of Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Lee. They got into their beds, said their goodnights and pulled their curtains closed. As Harry waited for sleep to take over he stared up at the dark ceiling and his thoughts drifted to the soft grey color of Malfoy's eyes. Harry's eyes fluttered shut and he dozed of peacefully.


	3. Author's Note!

**Bonjour! Guten Tag! Hola! Hello Everyone!**

**You may have noticed that I have not updated this story since November. That is because I found a job and started work. Since then all my time has went to work and education. However, I am forcing myself to find time to write this story. I really like it and where it is going so far and I want to actually finish it.**

**So with that being said there are a few things I need to go over with everyone. First, I had quite a few reviews asking me to make Draco bottom. That is understandable since a lot of Drarry stories have Harry bottom. _But…I can't see it happening in my story. When I thought of the plot for my story, Draco has grown a lot from his cowardly past self. He's taking the reigns back to his life. That doesn't mean that there is never going to be a time when Harry dominates ;)_**

**Secondly I had a few people asking to beta for me. I really appreciate it, but I write my stories a bit differently then I'm sure other people do. First I write my stories down on paper. I do this so that wherever I go I can jot down new ideas or scenes. It just helps me get my thoughts straight, for some reason I can't seem to do that just typing it out on a computer. Call me old fashioned. :)  
**

**I do have someone who reads over my written work so that isn't a issue. _BUT I would like someone who could go over my typed work, give me ideas of stuff I can add or stuff I should take out, before I upload it, and just help point out any mistypes or spelling errors that occur. If you would like to help and be that someone please let me know through private message._**

**With all that being said I will continue to write the 3rd chapter and I hope to have it up soon. Please let me know if you have anything you would like to see in this story and I will see what I can do.**

_iridetomriddleallnight~_


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